Perceptions of Tourism and Hotel Management Students on Ethics in the Workplace

Abstract

Ethics in the workplace has become an increasing concern with the fast development and increasing complexity of the hospitality and tourism industry. However, limited academic credence has been given to the perceptions and reactions of hospitality and tourism students on ethics in relation to their respective workplaces. The current study aims to investigate the perceptions of tourism and hotel management students on ethics. A comparison was conducted among three groups of students, including subdegree, bachelor's degree, and master's degree students. The findings of this study show that the students generally possess a high level of ethical standard and acknowledge the importance of ethics in the workplace. The perceptions and reactions of the students toward unethical behavior in the workplace consistently showed their adherence to ethics. Bachelor's degree students posited a higher acceptance level on unethical behavior compared with subdegree and master's degree students. Recommendations for improving the ethics course for tourism and hotel management programs and for future research are discussed.